ic Green with Envy (IC)

[Electra]

Stesha gulped. She didn't want to go into that greenhouse at all, not when every sense she had told her that something horrifyingly unnatural was going on in there. But plants were supposed to be her specialty, after all. Surely she could handle it... "You take the small ones," she shouted to the swordsman type who'd kicked in the door. "I'll go for the big one." No sooner had she said it than she was touching the wilted white flowers in her hair and teleporting into the the greenhouse of horrors. She came up in the back of the green plants, behind the big one, and concentrated all her attention on it. "Die," she muttered, pointing a finger at it to concentrate all her baleful intentions on the nasty overgrown thing.

[Dariusprime]

The 'trembling' plants still sitting in the greenhouse were all to willing to disgorge Fleur. She was a friend, and hopefully, able to stop the abominations before they too were consumed. The disintegrating attack struck the creature broad sided. Not that it was difficult, being a green, gooey ball after all. Green fibers split open, pouring out the glowing green sap, and for a moment the assault seemed lethal. As quickly as it hit, the sap clotted and flowed back, disappearing under the reinforced cellulose. That monster was tough.

The attack may not have been successful, but you wouldn't know that from listening to the mass. So far only the small, mobile plants roared. This thing let out a piercing shriek that echoed across the neighborhood. The squeal hit some record decimals, but to the plant controller, the signal sounded more like a distress call even as it cracked glass. Concrete detritus flew up as roots tore loose, raising the mass off the floor. The small orifice dropping pods sealed closed, and instead, about five feet up the mass, another office opened, extending a fanged maw vaguely similar to a Venus Fly Trap. Thankfully this new appendage looked to be orienting itself...

Out on the lawn, the great oaks continued to seethe and warp. After a few seconds, the base of the trunks split, forming long legs that ripped roots loose. Branches interwove into massive arm-like appendages almost as thick as the trunks. The behemoths looked mobile and more than a little menacing as they hauled their roots out of the earth. The biggest of the group rotated and leaned down toward Breakdown. Bark up near the branching points opened at two points. Two glowing yellow eyes cast pale light across the yard.

When the shriek began, the trees looked at the back yard, then back at the heroes with violence in their inhuman eyes. Instead of immediately attacking, the tree creaked, two rumbling words echoing from within it. A second set came from its neighbor across the yard, and a barking third from the tree behind it in the neighbor's yard. "Give us. The Green. Star!"

[quotemyname]

"YEeeaaaaaaaa..." Breakdown drawled out, "I have no clue what you're talking about. So I'm just going to hit you. You know, for being a crime against nature and all." He shot a quick look at Dead Head. "Don't take that personally or anything."

Crouching down into a fighting stance, Breakdown talked over his shoulder to Dead Head. "I'm thinking we take them down one at a time. I'll distract them. You hit them hard." He emphasized his point by punching his left hand with his right fist.

Breakdown quickly leaped in front of the nearest tree. He cranked up the volume on his powers as a new song began playing.

"I've never felt so alive

I've never had to run and hide

The things I want I cannot have

The things I need are all so bad"

He somehow managed to draw an extreme amount of attention to himself just by playing air guitar in front of a vaguely humanoid tree.

[Dariusprime]

The biggest tree, also the nearest, just stood there stock still. Lacking the expressive face of humans, the only indication of the creature's confusion was the rapid blinking of its spotlight eyes. Even glancing at its brethren didn't bring any clarity to the situation. Had the creature been in a better starting mood, it probably would have leaned back and contemplated the seizures the young human was undergoing.

Unfortunately this one had a more aggressive agenda. Rumbles echoed from within the wood, and the brightness of the eyes intensified. The lids narrowed, as if furrowing a brow in anger. A massive, leafy fist balled up and rose into the air. The big tree's intent was crystal clear: smash Breakdown. Unfortunately for the monster, its attention was also completely focused on its target.

"Shut up!" it roared.

Meanwhile its compatriots turned to look at one another. The one in back made a human-like shrug gesture.

[Gizmo]

"One salad for the lady, coming up," Jack quipped to the Phantom's friend as she somehow managed to move herself into the greenhouse. Leaping forward, his fiery blade flashed back and forth with blinding speed, slicing effortlessly through the closest yellow plant creature, leaving it a pile of charred pieces. Tumbling forward, the swashbuckler did away with its compatriot in similar fashion, adding to the growing pile of smoldering plant matter on the ground. "Anything I should know about these things beyond 'kill it with fire'?" he asked the flora specialist.

[Dr Archeville]

"I have no clue what you're talking about. So I'm just going to hit you. You know, for being a crime against nature and all." He shot a quick look at Dead Head. "Don't take that personally or anything."

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it none," he casually replied, right before letting out a horrendous roar and charging towards the offended tree, with a speed that took Breakdown by surprise. Holding his shovel like a pro at bat, he raised it high above his head, then swung it down against the tree in a diagonal arc; the edges weren't as shar as those of an axe, but with enough force and momentum, he figured he could take a decent bite out of it.

[Dariusprime]

With incredible efficiency the heroes dispatched the ravenous hordes of monsters. Lightning fast flourishes destroyed the dangerous yellow Piranhas, leaving only the larger and more brutish reds. Out front another battle began, only this time the entertainment was provided courtesy of world-class air guitar and the thwack of a shovel. The tactics were different, perhaps, but the end results were no less amazing.

The fewer that remained, the harder the remaining beasts fought. The two red Piranhas continued snapping wildly even as the masked hero questioned the flowery heroine. Neither were still particularly good at the whole snapping business, but hey, they were only a few moments old. Give them a break. Jaws closed over nothing but air as the acrobat danced around them with grace and precision!

The mother mass, or Mama Nasty if you prefer, continued to rise on muddy roots. The top neared the glass roof, but seemed to shudder as its two yellow children died fiery deaths, horrifically synchronized with its offspring. The fly trap appendage slowly 'looked' around the area, acclimating itself even as it dripped goo.

After a frighteningly brief moment, it whirled around and opened at Fleur de Joie. The maw was big enough to easy engulf her head! As if that thought wasn't bad enough, the freak did just that and bit her savagely, the green extensions on the jaw actually as hard as bone. Thankfully it didn't act like its children and grip for dear life. Nonetheless Mama was mad!

Meanwhile, the lead tree stared blindly at Breakdown. It looked to scratch its head, or some similar action, when the thud of a shovel sent a shiver up its trunk. The yellow, violent eyes widened as big as basketballs before glazing over. For a few precious seconds, the great tree lulled there, arms at its side and defenseless. Naturally this didn't go down well with its siblings.

"Die! Apes!"

[Cyroa]

James nodded as he looked around. This was different...fighting plants. "Ok, so fire works. Let's try some hedge clippers." He dismissed the hellfire and summoned the blade to his hand even as the large tree-plant-mouth-thing bit the green haired woman. He had never met her before, but knew who she was regardless. Partly from just staying informed and partly because she was a good friend of Taylor's. He lunged forward, slashing with the blade, hoping to make it release it's viney-bite on her.

[Dariusprime]

Unbelievably, the monstrous mother mound wasn't so much as phased by the very lethal attack. Oh, the Black Blade certainly got its attention. If it had eyes, they would be as wide as the ones on the killer tree, but instead a low rumble forth as the blade seemingly bounced off. For now though Mama didn't like Fleur de Joie and wished to make her displeasure known most dramatically.

Against a normal person, or even a less-experienced super heroine, the bite would have been bloody savagery the likes of which would have made the darkest of heroes flinch. Instead she emerged from the maw unscathed, if covered in vile goop that the thing used as saliva. Mama, even as alien as it was, looked confused as to how a mere squishy bag of water took that bite. Recognizing perhaps an equal or greater threat in Hellion, the fly trap mouth withdrew closer to the body, hissing angrily like a huge snake.

[Electra]

"Eyuck!" Stesha exclaimed as the plant spit her out. "Did I say that that was the very living end before? Well, I was wrong. This is." Despite the humorous words, she was worried. Her most dire power against plants hadn't worked. The other hero attacking it hadn't fazed it. Maybe the only thing to do at this point was to try and contain the damage. But could she move something like this, so big and weird and angry?

Stesha closed her eyes and focused all her energy, clasping her hands together in front of her. Behind the mama plant, another shoot began to grow, thick and green and very purposeful. It loomed up above the odious plant-thing, then opened a massive daisy head, the size of the logo on a Target store. It hovered there precariously for a moment, then collapsed over onto the mama plant, stamen side-down, as though overcome by its own gravity. Only when the dust cleared, the plant that had been beneath it... was gone.

Stesha staggered a little, clutching onto the edge of a propagating table, but looked pleased with herself. "And good riddance," she muttered with satisfaction.

[Dariusprime]

The remaining Piranhas stopped dead in their tracks and turned to look at where Mama had so recently been. Their affect seemed to wind down, as if a power source had been pulled. Leaves wilted visibly and the monstrous jaws slowly closed. They weren't dead so much as disconnected. Unfortunately they weren't out of the fight. Both started drooling heavily and twitched as if about to explode. Whether that action was literal or metaphorical, time would tell. The remaining pods, including the jumbo three pack, began twitching as well in potentially gooey horror.

By this time though, the enraged trees had picked up their weapons of choice. For the furthest tree, that was a very nice, silver Mercedes sports coupe. For the closer a light post was torn out of the sidewalk and slapped angrily in a woody hand. The squishy but unconscious citizens looked to be grave danger of being trampled too death by malicious animated oaks!

The two siblings, however, stopped in their tracks and finally focused on the backyard. From their high vantage point, the greenhouse was plainly visible. Canopies and eyes rotated toward the northwest, as if receiving a signal. Each let out a groaning sound, like an old tree creaking under its own rotten weight. Looking back to Breakdown and Dead Head, they issued a final threat before dissolving into the grass, "Another. Time."

The big shovel-thumped tree out front was mostly oblivious. It had bigger, more axe-like problems.

For Fleur de Joie, Jack-of-All-Blades and Hellion, the chaos of the battle died down as suddenly as it began. Only a Mercedes car alarm and the patter of rain broke the silence. The fluctuating dimensional energies settled somewhat, the alien energy signature vanished elsewhere, and the slimy presence of the mother plant slipped away, present in its children, but farther afield. As the two trees turned to attention, a strange, badly garbled message sounded in Fleur's mind. Mixed it came with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of conflicting information streams, like a busy radio channel.

Return, my children.

If she had any previous interaction with The Green Man, she knew that voice.

[quotemyname]

"You know," Breakdown said, taking a step back from the large wooden threat before him, "I'm pretty sure I still have no clue what's going on here. But I do know a retreat and or surrender when I see one." He glanced at Dead Head to see his reaction before turning to the tree in front of him. "We done here, or what?" He asked with a shrug, assuming a rather neutral and non-threatening stance.

[Electra]

Inside the greenhouse, Stesha closed her eyes to listen to the strange message. "It's the Green Man," she said aloud, still hanging onto the edge of the table. The fight had taken a lot out of her. "Of course. I should've guessed before. But why here, why now? This doesn't seem like his style, just randomly attacking a neighborhood. What could he want?"

[Cyroa]

James shook his head sadly. "The Green Man? Seriously? That's just sad. I don't know much about him though beyond the basics but he might be here for the same reason I am. There's this wierd magic and dimensional energy in the area. Got my attention." He searched with his magical senses, seeing if there was any other residual traces to be found. He looked over at the green haired hero. "Fleur, you ok?"

[Gizmo]

Jack poked one of the quivering plant creatures hesitantly with his fiery sword. "Yeah, we maybe want to continue this debriefing outside, kids. That's just not right." Considering the falling meteor which had led him to this spot he paused on his way out the door. "Wait, is there a green rock or shard of something around here somewhere? Whatever fell out of the sky, I'm thinking we don't want to be leaving bits of it lying around."

[Electra]

"I'm fine," Fleur assured Hellion with a smile, "I just don't usually throw that much power around all at one time. It sort of took the wind out of me." She straightened up. "Whatever they were looking for, he's either found it or decided to give up on it, because he just called for his creatures to return to him. If they start heading out, I suggest we follow them and see where they go."

[Dariusprime]

The big tree continued as before, simply staring off into space from the savage blow. Just like a normal creature, its wits were slowly returning, but not before the yellow glow faded from its eyes. Noticeably different too about this tree was the lack of the glowing, green 'blood'. Even if Breakdown and Dead Head weren't in the backyard, the initial battle left plenty of clues as to the source of the green goo. This specimen didn't bleed, the notch taken out by the shovel displaying only pulped wood.

Hellion's magical senses first indicated the obvious. A recent, and understandable, dimensional rift opened and rapidly closed, and the resonance matched Fleur de Joie's powers. The pseudo-natural and dimensional energies radiating from the plants faded rapidly. Within seconds the plant monsters would be no more, as he could almost trace perfect arcs right up to where Mama Nasty recently rested. Without her for a battery, the offspring had no will to live. More importantly, the strange inter-dimensional sensation that drew Hellion here still pulsed dimly in the dying plants.

Extending out further though revealed a more ominous presence. Jack too felt the alien pulses, local and distant, like some sort of bloated parasite. The localized distortions were easy to read, but to the west and northwest was something else. The same signature remained, but amplified tremendously. The source was still growing in power, pulsing in the same alien rhythm as these beasts, and doubling in strength perhaps every twenty minutes. Even despite this power, the presence was subtle and insidious, embedded in background phenomena and surprisingly easy to miss.

As for the pods and Piranhas, they started coming apart at the seams. Green blood seeped out through cracks and enlarged pores. Slowly but surely they would dissolve into pools on the greenhouse floor. The smell? Yeah, well, don't smell it. Compost heaps smell much better.

[quotemyname]

"Guess so." Breakdown now completely let down his guard. No sense trying to fight something that might not even be alive anymore. Poor tree had been all uprooted.

"Come on, DH. Let's check the back." Breakdown gave a wave over his shoulder to the Zombie behind him. He then trotted off through the gate around the back. Capable of running much faster, but not bothering.

Jogging up to the other heroes, Breakdown smiled. "Hi, guys. Sorry I'm late. Got held up by some trees gone crazy." Looking around at the greenhouse, he gave a small frown, and pressed one of the buttons on his sleeve.

[groove]20805641[/groove]

"I swear. If this whole thing turns out to be a metaphor for communism, I'm going to be pissed. Rush did it first!"

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head kept an eye on the three as he followed Breakdown around to the back. When he got past the gate, he stopped looking over his shoulder, and focused on what was ahead of him.

He knew Hellion from the Midnighters, and Jack from the forest and the Carnival. But the other girl was new.

And... 'off,' to his way of seeing things. As if she'd been dead before, but brought back.

"Evenin', gents, ma'am," the zombie said, tipping his hat to her. Well, replace "hat" with "his entire head." "This all have anythin' t'do with that big green shootin' star I saw streak overhead?"

[Cyroa]

James frowned. "There's...more of whatever is causing this. Can you feel that?" He pointed to the two other sources. "I'm not sure what they are. Or what caused this. But it is growing stronger, pulsing almost. We certainly can't leave them as is. They need to be contained. And quickly too considering those 'pulses' will just continue to get stronger." He took a few steps outside the greenhouse where the smell wasn't quite so awful. "So...anyone got any idea what this was? What was that about a green rock?"

[quotemyname]

After Breakdown was informed of the outcome of the backyard's fight, he had an observation to make, "Fluer, where did you send that big plant thing? Will it survive the trip? Should we go after it? And by the way, Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a bunch!"

James frowned. "There's...more of whatever is causing this. Can you feel that?" He pointed to the two other sources. "I'm not sure what they are. Or what caused this. But it is growing stronger, pulsing almost. We certainly can't leave them as is. They need to be contained. And quickly too considering those 'pulses' will just continue to get stronger." He took a few steps outside the greenhouse where the smell wasn't quite so awful. "So...anyone got any idea what this was? What was that about a green rock?"

Breakdown followed his classmate out. The air was sweeter outside the greenhouse. It no longer smelled of soon to be rotting, slightly burned vegetation. "Did you really have to set them on fire?" he asked Jack with an accusatory look. "It stinks now," he waved a hand in front of his nose. "But I don't know, James. Maybe if we can pinpoint their location, Stesha can get us there? It deserves investigating at the least. We can't just let them grow wild. Excuse the pun."

[Gizmo]

Jack glanced between Breakdown and the smoldering plant matter. "...yes. Yes, I did," he decided with conviction. He nodded to the gentlemanly zombie. "Hey, 'Head, how's it hanging?" He noted with a wry amusement that after some of the things he'd been subjected to lately, these floral monstrosities included, the undead hero's unsettling necromantic energies didn't seem nearly so off-putting as they once had.

"Sounds like me and the demonic matchstick here can tack these things down," he announced to the group. "I'mma say we do that soonish, considering how much wackiness this lot got up to already. We probably don't want to give Audrey III through VI time to get settled in."

[Electra]

Dead Head's gruesome appearance earned him a double-take from Stesha, but she did her best to give him a friendly smile anyway. He might look horrific, but apparently he was a hero all the same. Took all types, she supposed. Even so, she was careful not to get too close, or downwind. "I can take us to wherever they're gathering, if someone can help me pinpoint it," she told them. "I travel through plants, and the Green Man isn't going to be anywhere where there isn't plenty of them. Whatever he was doing here, though, I have to say he's probably done. I don't think the plants he animated are going to be active much longer without him powering them. We need to figure out where he's gone next."

She thought for a moment. "There was another surge of energy, even stranger than this one, out towards Wharton Forest. I felt it when I woke up, but I came here first because it's populated. Maybe he's out there."

[Dr Archeville]

He nodded to the gentlemanly zombie. "Hey, 'Head, how's it hanging?" He noted with a wry amusement that after some of the things he'd been subjected to lately, these floral monstrosities included, the undead hero's unsettling necromantic energies didn't seem nearly so off-putting as they once had.

"By a thread," the zombie replied.

Then his left arm fell off, landing with a wet thud on the ground.

"Man, I gotta get me some better stitchin'," he said as he picked up his arm and slung it over his shoulder.

In truth, he didn't need stitches, or anything of the sort, as all his parts fit together perfectly. He just liked to put on a show.

"So, let's put out these fires here -- don't want 'em to spread none -- then head out to th' Forest!"

[Dariusprime]

As if to emphasize the situation, or just for the heck of it, a crashing sound echoed from the front yard. Sounded like the big tree finally toppled over. The canopy wasn't visible over the roof line, so that was a reasonable explanation. Over the rain, the sound of creaking wood could still be heard, like the great monster was groaning.